Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently revealed that the company could spend up to $1 billion on acquisitions and investments this year.
According to Bloomberg, the crypto exchange has already spent roughly $325 million on 67 projects this year compared to $140 million spent on 73 projects the year prior. The figure excludes a $200 million investment in the American business magazine Forbes and $500 million committed to Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition.
Binance to Focus on DeFi and NFT Projects
While Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX has been scooping up assets of beleaguered crypto lenders amid the crypto winter, CZ said Binance will focus more on acquiring decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) projects.
“We did look at a lot of lenders in recent months, because that’s where all the issues are. Many of them, they just take a user’s money and give it to somebody else. There’s not a lot of intrinsic value. In that case, what’s to acquire? We want to see real products that people use,” CZ said.
Binance Remains Profitable Despite Bear Market
CZ noted that Binance has remained profitable this year despite most crypto assets losing more than half of their value and that the company has been investing in ecosystems for NFTs, fan token platforms, and traditional payment-service providers.
“DeFi works. NFTs are a lot more than selling pictures of monkeys. NFT use cases have not largely been well built — NFTs for tickets, for university degrees. I think the technology will stay,” he said.
The CEO also revealed that Binance might soon be interested in scooping up minority stakes in traditional e-commerce and gaming companies. Zhao noted that Binance has a $7 billion fund that has been investing in deals, adding that the fund has over 30 member team focused on mergers and acquisitions.
Speaking on the current bear market, Zhao stated that investors are likely to see more market consolidation. He concluded that “there’s a lot of risks and a lot of pain, but also a lot of opportunity.”
